Study Supports
Medicaid
Reimbursement
for Car Seats

Flaura Winston and four other
authors from the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
have published a study concluding
that distributing car
safety seats among economically
disadvantaged children would
be a smart investment of federal
funds. The research, published in
the journal Ambulatory Pediatrics,
suggests this type of program
could be as cost-effective as the
long-running successful Vaccines
for Children (VFC) program.

The study proposes a Child
Restraint Systems (CRS) program
that would provide access to
child restraints and education
through a physician's prescription.
Parents of all newborns
enrolled in a Medicaid-based
CRS program at birth would
receive a convertible (combined
infant and toddler) safety seat
and educational materials upon
leaving the hospital. At age four,
children would receive a booster
seat to be used until about age
eight. The net cost per beneficiary
of the eight year program
would be $32.

Study authors say this type
of program would realize a substantial
cost savings. For every
100,000 children served, there
would be a $1 million reduction
in medical costs, a gain
of $100,000 in the cost of lost
parental work and a $2.7 million
reduction in future victim
productivity costs.

Without the proposed
program, injuries to children
from vehicle crashes (per 100,000
children) would result in an
estimated $4.2 million in medical costs, $350,000 in parental work loss and $8.3 million in reduced
future victimproductivity.

The researchers hope the study will generate more interest among
health care policymakers to consider child safety preventive care as a
primary clinical strategy.